Gift Knitting in 6 Takes

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Take 6 (The Final Take)

1. Campus Scarf by Fiona Ellis from Scarf Style, Brooks Farm Four Play Yarn
2. Campus Scarf by Fiona Ellis from Scarf Style, Dale of Norway Sisik #167
3. Laurie Scarf by Karen Konop, Dale of Norway Sisik #167
4. Single Cable Scarf by Leigh Radford, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran #300611
5. Self-designed using the Bon Bon cable pattern from the Vogue Stitchionary vol. 2., Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran #300611
6. Scarf with Faggot Lace by Pam Allen, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran #300611

5 years ago when I rediscovered knitting I knit everyone I know something for the holidays. That included friends, 4 parents, 4 in-laws, multiple siblings with spouses, and my dear husband. I spent hours and hours knitting and only a few people gave me the “hoorahs” that I wanted to hear so the next year the list was whittled down to the “worthy.” Then the next year it was even fewer. Then last year, my husband got a knit hat and that was that.

I thought I had beaten the holiday knitting bug which strikes many knitters. The bug that whispers, “Why buy that hat when you can knit it?” Or, “You’ll start early this year and then surely you can knit scarves for your 18 relatives.” This year, due to a dwindling budget, I thought it was a good time to dig through the stash and knit up some of the lovelies that have been tucked away for so long. My gift list has been pruned this year and I decided to knit for just two people, my Mom and my Aunt.

The above 6 scarves were my various attempts at knitting my Mom’s scarf. I am finally happy with the last one, the faggot lace pattern, and so it is finished and blocking (nice final pictures to come). My Aunt’s scarf is progressing well. It only took me two tries to get her’s right. I’m pretty sure I like it…No pictures until after the holidays as I’m pretty sure she (or someone in her house) reads my blog.

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Spring Cleaning

As I had a bit of baby free time this weekend thanks to Matt being home I took this opportunity to sort through and organize all my knitting needles and knitting accouterments. First of all, until I rounded up all my dpns I had no idea I had so many. Why on earth do I have 8 pairs of 2.5 mm (US 1.5) dpns? I think I keep buying them since I stash them away in different bags and can’t ever find them when I want them. Enter the Lexie Barnes Dottie DPN/Crochet Hook wallet. I couldn’t resist and I am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of my diablo Dottie. I’ll post pictures of the inside as soon as I have it in my hot little hands.

Next up, I was trying to figure out what to do with my umpteen million stitchmarkers when I stumbled across an organization thread on Ravelry. Someone suggested using a split ring to hold all the stitchmarkers. Brilliant! So off I went to JoAnn’s (though I’m sure they are cheaper at the hardware store, but I don’t know where the hardware store is in Hillsboro). I found them in the embroidery floss section and an hour later I had wrangled all of my random stitcchmarkers onto 4 easy to manage rings. Hooray!

While at JoAnn’s I found the cutest little project bag and I just had to get it. It’s perfect for holding a pair of socks in progress or my Lace Ribbon Scarf. How could I say no? (I’m in the Ravelry Lace Ribbon Scarf KAL and I’m actually getting some knitting done! I’m using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock mediumweight in Bella Coola and I think it is turning out really well).

I’ve also been working on organizing my yarn stash, but that is a bigger project that will take a bit longer than a 3-day weekend. 🙂

Things are going well with baby Cori. Matt and I are getting into a routine with her and everyday it is fun to see how she changes. She’s beginning to smile more and she has really taken an interest in the world around her now.

For now, I am going to try to keep up with blogging, but it just will be a bit more intermittent than it used to be. Thank you everyone for your comments about Cori and my blogging. Please feel free to check out my Ravelry page as I tend to update that more frequently.

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